Consumers are often in need of account and other information regarding their various debit/credit cards. This may include items such as account status, available balance and other information. Currently, card holders either call or log on to their account over the internet to get the desired information regarding their account. Also, financial institutions and card issuers are in constant searches for new and effective ways to get relevant information to their card holders such as offers for new products and other marketing information that may be of interest to particular customers. Currently, the main forms of communication between the card holders and the financial institutions is by phone, mail, or internet. These methods are often inconvenient and costly for both the financial institution and card holder.
An automobile insurance policy is an important account for many consumers. Policy payments are required year-round which policy owners must maintain to avoid lapses in coverage. Furthermore, proof of insurance is an important and frequently legally required vehicle identification card that policy owners must have on hand. However, such proof of insurance vehicle identification cards typically expire on a regular basis and policy owners must constantly update their vehicle identification cards to remain current. Finally, many of the problems outlined above for debit/credit cards are applicable to automobile insurance vehicle identification cards. Policy owners frequently need to reference their policy coverage limits or, in the case of a claim, must monitor the amount of an approved claim as repairs and other services are managed.
Automobile insurance providers must continuously find ways to re-engineer business processes to accommodate the demand for a low maintenance and low overhead business model. Furthermore, customers today prefer value and ease of use over loyalty, thus systems and methods that work cohesively to provide a superior insurance product to customers while reducing overhead are needed.